Running Out of Air by Lilli Sutton

Author:Lilli Sutton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises ULC
Published: 2024-09-13T15:30:05+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

November 2016,

Breckenridge, Colorado

Evelyn opened her eyes and braced herself. It took her no time to remember that the poster-clad walls of her childhood bedroom weren’t a cruel facade from a dream. They were real. She was home for Thanksgiving, and Sophie was sleeping in the room right next door.

Or maybe she wasn’t sleeping, because Evelyn hadn’t, not until almost dawn. She had tossed and turned all night, questioning her decision to return home. Her mother had insisted, but what did that matter? It was a horrible idea. As much as she wanted Sophie to forgive her, she knew it was too soon. Sophie wasn’t going to understand what had happened between her and Miles. Evelyn herself hardly understood, even though it had now been over a year since he first came to stay at her apartment.

Evelyn forced herself out of bed and cracked the blinds at the nearest window, letting the weak autumn morning light filter in. She stared at the landscape outside the condo—muted, desolate, awash in gray and brown.

She pulled on a pair of fleece-lined leggings and a lightweight shirt and stepped into the hallway. Sophie’s door was still shut. She made her way down the stairs and smelled coffee. Her mother was already awake, reading the news on her phone as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Good morning, Evelyn,” she said as she glanced up. “Coffee?”

“Later, thanks. I’m going for a run.” Evelyn continued down the hallway, grabbing her down vest from a hook by the door and stepping out into the cold morning air. Not cold enough, she thought, wishing yet again that she was on a remote mountain, unreachable. She would have to make do with a ski resort.

A map of the roads and trails around the resort had long ago burned its way into her mind. She turned left away from the condo complex and ran uphill, her breath coming in short, sharp bursts. Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her leggings, but she ignored it. It was probably Miles, asking how things were. Bad. Things were bad.

Evelyn had flown in the day before, as close to Thanksgiving as possible. Her mother had picked her up from the airport, chatting nonstop to fill the void between them. Evelyn hadn’t seen her since the summer, when she’d shown up at the apartment unannounced. Since then, they’d maintained a cordial relationship. Her mother rarely asked about Miles, which Evelyn appreciated. If she could pretend he didn’t exist, she could ignore some of the pain she’d caused. But she had, from her mother’s updates, a strong idea of exactly how hurt Sophie was. Her sister wasn’t working. She rarely left the house. For the first time in her life, she was on antidepressants. Evelyn took all this information and locked it away in a black box in her brain. She opened it often, the guilt gnawing at her from the inside out.

That same guilt had carried her home. Her mother hadn’t even insisted. She had suggested, gently, that it might be nice to spend the holiday together.

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